# Marca Strength Comparison Chart



## Airborne RU (Oct 7, 2006)

Slow news day here...

Found this chart thought it looked nice.



I know I know blanket statements are always inaccurate at the important levels but hey it aids in the understanding of the big picture.

Found it at cigarstudio.com

Sorry if this is a repost.


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## Blueface (May 28, 2005)

Wow!
I would put Quais at the end of the strength list, considering they were created for the wusses in France that can't handle anything strong.:r


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## adsantos13 (Oct 10, 2006)

Blueface said:


> Wow!
> I would put Quais at the end of the strength list, considering they were created for the wusses in France that can't handle anything strong.:r


LOL, but have you ever smoked a Gitane cigarette from France? Back when I was a hardcore cigarette smoker, I lit one up and it nearly blew my head off!


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## stormin (Feb 11, 2005)

Its an interesting chart. Thanks for sharing.
I always get confused though when folks talk about strength. Some people say "strength" and mean nicotine content and some say "strength" and are actually referring to the flavour. So what does the chart show, nicotine content or flavour?


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## Airborne RU (Oct 7, 2006)

I'm thinking nicotine content


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## jgros001 (Jun 14, 2005)

Interesting...the two that really jumped out to me were San Cristobal and H Upmann. I never considered SCdlH to be that strong...granted I don't have that much experience with that brand. And I always thought of H Upmann as medium to full cigars.


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## burninator (Jul 11, 2006)

This seems to be indicating strength of flavor, to me.


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## TheDirector (Nov 22, 2006)

Look out! I got a book.  

Perelman's Pocket Cyclopedia of Havana Cigars has a ranking of "Bodied"

Full
Bolivar, Partagas, RA, SLR, Vegueros

Med-full
Cohiba Cuaba Diplomaticos JLP JL Monte VR

Medium
Flor de Cano, La Gloria Cubana, Punch, Quintero, RyJ, SP, Trinidad

Mild-Medium
El Rey Del Mundo, H.Upmann, Por Laranaga, San Cristobal, 

Mild
Fonseca, Hoyo, Quai, RG

They don't define "body" but I assume it is flavour.... This fits my experience so far better than the chart but... I don't think Fonseca is a mild...


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## mosesbotbol (Sep 21, 2005)

I think of Upmann being much stronger than the chart says? How could Diplimatico and MC be so far apart? Trinidad stronger the Juan Lopez? How are these ratings decided? Anything scientific?


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## Coffee Grounds (Feb 14, 2007)

Thanks for the chart I find that informative.


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## croatan (Mar 23, 2005)

Interesting. I don't have anything better to do, so here's my list:
Bolivar
Quintero
Partagas
Juan Lopez
Jose L Piedra
Vegas Robaina
Punch
Cohiba
Cuaba
Ramon Allones
Trinidad
H Upmann
Fonseca
Rafael Gonzalez
Sancho Panza
PL
LGC
Romeo y Julieta
San Cristobal
El Rey del Mundo
San Luis Rey
Montecristo
Dip
Vegueros
HdM
Quai d'Orsay


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## Quint (Oct 19, 2006)

croatan said:


> Interesting. I don't have anything better to do, so here's my list:
> Bolivar
> Quintero
> Partagas
> ...


I'm jealous you've had the opportunity to sample all these marca's to create such a list....:r


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## dayplanner (Dec 11, 1997)

Tough to agree that Sancho is the weakest (or least strong?) cigar while QdO is in the middle of the pack. 

Cool chart -- a springboard for good conversation...Thanks for posting it!


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## 68TriShield (May 15, 2006)

I reckon Punch was so strong they said fuggetaboutit....


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## mosesbotbol (Sep 21, 2005)

68TriShield said:


> I reckon Punch was so strong they said fuggetaboutit....


Good eye!


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## audio1der (Mar 8, 2006)

Unless we can confirm who created the chart, I consider it 1 persons opinion.
:2


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## Genevapics (Dec 29, 2006)

Thank you for providing this information.:tu


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## Boston_Dude05 (Oct 10, 2006)

Great chart. Pretty informative.


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## mosesbotbol (Sep 21, 2005)

We should come up with our own chart. Maybe we could vote on strength and other factors on a scale of 1-10 and compile the results into a chart?


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## Boston_Dude05 (Oct 10, 2006)

mosesbotbol said:


> We should come up with our own chart. Maybe we could vote on strength and other factors on a scale of 1-10 and compile the results into a chart?


That would be really neat. Perhaps we can put it on one big poll.


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## Airborne RU (Oct 7, 2006)

Boston_Dude05 said:


> That would be really neat. Perhaps we can put it on one big poll.


That would be waaaay cool. I don't have the required smoking knowledge to make a chart, only having smoked a handfull of the marcas out there. Perhaps a learned brother like Lacivious can swag something together?


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## mosesbotbol (Sep 21, 2005)

It would only be fair if people who do the ratings have actually smoked several cigars from each marca. Brands like Vegueros, not many of us on CS have smoked, so I expect there won't be many ratings for this chart.


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## Fredster (Jan 26, 2004)

Couple things strike me as off on the chart. Upmann should be at least in the middle, especially when they are aged. 

Also PL PC's and especially the new PL Londsdales are not mild at all. The londsdale is full strength. 

I know most wont agree on the San Cristobal at the top[, but I do. These cigars become very strong with age. If you don't think so you have not smoked a 99 initial release La Punta. Very, Very strong but no harshness.


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## mosesbotbol (Sep 21, 2005)

Fredster said:


> Couple things strike me as off on the chart. Upmann should be at least in the middle, especially when they are aged.
> 
> Also PL PC's and especially the new PL Londsdales are not mild at all. The londsdale is full strength.
> 
> I know most wont agree on the San Cristobal at the top[, but I do. These cigars become very strong with age. If you don't think so you have not smoked a 99 initial release La Punta. Very, Very strong but no harshness.


:tpd: 
Upmann is stronger than the chart and SCDH is hardly a mild cigar either. Correct in strong yet not harsh. A class cigar for sure.


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## Boston_Dude05 (Oct 10, 2006)

mosesbotbol said:


> It would only be fair if people who do the ratings have actually smoked several cigars from each marca. Brands like Vegueros, not many of us on CS have smoked, so I expect there won't be many ratings for this chart.


This is actually a good point. Can't compare w/o having tried them. Perhaps pre-qualify participants before doing the poll so is more accurate. Say you must have tried 1 from each brand to participate, though I suspect that would limit the #s of folks who can poll.


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## steelheaderdu (Aug 18, 2006)

ot sure about you guys, but I had a Quai d'Orsay corona from 2000 last week, and it was very strong...


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## dvickery (Jan 1, 2000)

larry and others

an interesting list of opinions...

fred said it and i will reiterate...as cigars age the strength(nicotine punch)increases(at least for the first decade or so).

fred...i have smoked a box of ene'00 el principes(may or may not be first release)they were insanely strong and pretty much 5/5 in the flavour department yummmmmmm.

upmann's from '92 are also pretty strong

du deputes from '93 are deathly strong

also some ryj's from the middle to late 90's are potent beyond belief

i guess i have made my point...if there is a pole regarding strength...age of cigars is of paramount importance in order to qualify any pole.

derrek


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## Fredster (Jan 26, 2004)

dvickery said:


> larry and others
> 
> an interesting list of opinions...
> 
> ...


All very true on the age info.

Impossible to really make a chart on marcas since you have so much variation in strength with in same marcas. Take Punch for instance, two same sized cigars, the SS #2 is brutal strong, and the Black Prince is one of the mildest corona extras.

Another side-note about SC. The El Morros are very strong with over 5 years age. Possibly the strongest large (DC or C-Hill) size cigar made today.


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## mosesbotbol (Sep 21, 2005)

What size cigar is this chart based on. If we were to do our own chart, we should limit it two sizes, perhapds a petit corona and churchill of each Marca.

I am still curious how that ranking was determined.


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## Fredster (Jan 26, 2004)

steelheaderdu said:


> ot sure about you guys, but I had a Quai d'Orsay corona from 2000 last week, and it was very strong...


I've been smoking a lot of 01 QDO coronas and they are a solid med for sure. They are not mild like some suggest. The Imperials are very mild though.


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## mosesbotbol (Sep 21, 2005)

Fredster said:


> I've been smoking a lot of 01 QDO coronas and they are a solid med for sure. They are not mild like some suggest. The Imperials are very mild though.


Been smoking on my third box 01's too. Just love them as a mid day smoke. My friend has the Imperiales and I have just one and could not believe how mild it was. The wrappers are quite rich looking too.

The first question should be what size should be universal for this chart to determine where the marca stands? What kind imperical guides will we base our judgments on?

Maybe there's a marca we can all agree on (on strength) and everything is based stronger or weaker relative to _that_ cigar?


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## tfar (Dec 27, 2007)

I may have samples cigars from half of the marcas mentioned. For me Upmann is as strong as Bolivar or almost. I actually find the Bolivar Belicosos finos to be medium to strong only.

Cohiba on the other hand I find stronger than Bolivar. Montecristos I generally don't like but also find them quite strong.

Just my opinion. A poll is a good idea. An ordinary Corona and a Chuchill would be good starting points. Perhaps add a Robusto in there.

Till


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## Bubba -NJ (Dec 6, 2005)

I personally find the RyJ to be stronger than what is listed in that chart . However I've only had the Cazadores , Churchills , Short Churchills and Petit Coronas . The PC is the mildest of the 4 sizes to me , but it has been a couple years since I've had one and I do believe that I still have 1 or 2 left from a 5 pack purchase I made when I started down this slope . Also I've only had the #2 from Diplomaticos and would not have that anywhere near as strong as a Monte #2 or the Monte "A" . Taste is subjective so no matter what one person thinks , someone else will disagree . Maybe a individual cigar strength chart would work better so as not to confuse readers expecting something strong because of a generalization about a whole line .


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## Harpo (Oct 11, 2007)

No Punch? Quai d'Orsay in the middle and above HdM, PL, SP etc?

Makes me stroke my imaginary beard and say: "Hmmmmmmmm..."


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## mosesbotbol (Sep 21, 2005)

Robert Parker and his fellow wine tasters go to "true up's" where they all drink the same wine and get the rating in line so whoever reviews the wine would give a similar score.

We have define what strength is for a cigar, and how it will be objectively measured. From there, we pick a mean cigar which is our reference point, assign a rating to that, and judge the other cigars based on the above.


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